1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates broadly to ladders to be attached to the transoms of boats in assist persons using the boats to board the boat from a position immersed in the water beside the boat or to safely debark from the boat even when loaded with scuba equipment or other gear. More particularly, it concerns boat ladders that may be attached to a stern platform of a boat to provide a foldable step section that permits easy and safe access from or to the platform into or out of the water surrounding the boat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of platform and ladder devices have been developed and marketed for attachment to the transoms of boats to assist in boarding or debarking the boats or to help in moving or working about the stern of the boats. These prior devices can be divided broadly into three classes, i.e., (1) those that are strictly ladders and provide no real platform function, (2) those that are strictly platforms and (3) those that provide combination ladder and platform functions. The present invention relates the devices of the third type.
Many prior art devices of the third type have the moveable step sections mounted to the platform section in a manner that the step section is not sturdily fixed when in the lowered, climbing position with the result that the user is bothered by having to lift his body on an unsteady step. This is particularly bothersome when the user is carrying heavy gear, e.g., scuba gear, since the added weight serves to aggravate the unstable condition. We previously disclosed and claimed in our prior patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,462,485 improved ladder platforms which eliminated such deficiency of the prior known devices. However, the devices of that patent were not designed for use with boats already equipped with stern platforms so this present invention fills the gap.